DEEP: Okay To Eat Fish From Quinnipiac River After Chromium Spill

(CBS Connecticut) — The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection says it is once again okay to eat fish from the Quinnipiac River in Southington, and to spend time at the river.

“The test results of the surface water and the sediment sampling of the bottom of the river and the embankments of the river have proven non-detect for hexavalent chromium, and we are comfortable lifting the fishing advisory,” said DEEP Emergency Response Unit Supervisor Jeff Chandler.

Chandler says after a chemical spill at Light Metals, chromium pooled up on a roadway outside the building.

It then soaked through cracks in the road. The dirt in the area has been scooped up and taken elsewhere.

Chandler said a very small amount of chromium got into the Quinnipiac River

Extra monitoring will be conducted at two local wells, before they are re-opened.

The dry conditions helped prevent any further contamination of the river, because the chromium that got into a drain, had no water to carry it into the river.